overview of the human rights situation in zimbabwe - Kubatana

Guruve and Shamva, Uzumba Marambapfungwe, Mashonaland West Province and
Midlands province. 4 In the final report on the Presidential election of March 2002 the
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) reported that;
“the number of known militia bases were located as follows in the provinces:
Mashonaland Central (40); Matabeleland (29); Mashonaland West (23); Masvingo
(13); Bulawayo (13); Mashonaland East (9); Chitungwiza (9); and Harare (5). In
Masvingo the party militia was camped at vice President Muzenda’s Paradise Motel”
Presently there is still no meaningful human rights activity in virtually all rural areas
in Zimbabwe and unless this issue is addressed urgently, the information gap between
urban and rural areas will continue which will result in no meaningful changes in the
election results to patterns in future elections especially the impending 2005
Parliamentary Elections. Members of the judiciary were not spared either from
politically motivated violence as will be evident in this paper.
The government conveniently linked and continues to link human rights defenders
and NGOs with the opposition Movement For Democratic Change in order to
ostracise them. 5 Torture as a tool of repression was used extensively with over 1000
documented cases in October 2002. 6 Teachers who fit the definition of hrds by virtue
of their special place in civilisation became targets of politically motivated violence in
2002 with reports of violence against teachers being received in 8 out of the 10
provinces. Over 35 schools were reported closed in Masvingo province alone due to
intimidation of teachers. 107 503 teachers were forced to pay protection fees. 20 994
teachers were kidnapped, 15 659 assaulted/harassed, 14 442 displaced, and 4926
received death reports. 7 Rape was also reported to have been used as a weapon to
fight political opponents by ZANU (P.F). 8
Arbitrary arrest and detention, kidnapping, selective prosecution, denial of fair trial,
degrading and inhuman prison conditions, promulgation of repressive legislation such
as The Public Order and Security Act ( Cap 11:17) and The Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act (Cap 10:27) were other methods used to curtail
enjoyment of fundamental rights and also create a minefield for hrds. 9
Between 1 January 2002 and 14 April 2002 the total cumulative picture of
documented politically motivated violence was as follows; 54 deaths/executions; 48
4 Zimbabwe Election Support Network reports on the March 2002 Presidential election at p 36.
5 ZimRights, FIDH and OMCT in their joint report on hrds of February 2002 cite cases from March
2002 to November 2002 where the government used the press to churn out propaganda against human
rights groups such as Amani Trust, The Legal Resources Foundation, Amnesty International,
ZimRrights, ZESN, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, the National Constitutional Assembly
and the Crisis Coalition.
6 NGO Forum October 2002 report; See also ICG report 42 Zimbabwe: The Politics of National
Liberation and International Division; See also the Zimbabwe Human Rights Bulletin Issue 7, by
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights p11
7 Zimbabwe Human Rights Bulletin issue 7 (pages 11& 98)
8 ZESN Presidential report (supra) p45; ICG Report No 42 (supra) p7; Zimbabwe Human Rights
Bulletin issue 7 (p 87/8); see also Daily News report where patrons at a night club in Chitungwiza
forced to have sex.
9 Refer generally to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Bulletin, Issue 7 Baseline report for examples.
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